Audio Bible CD set took 600 actors to record

November 09, 2009|By RICK KOGAN Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO -- JoBe Cerny, most famous for being the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, was on one recent rainy morning sitting in a studio at his Cerny/American Creative, a production company/recording studio on Illinois Street in Chicago. He was drinking coffee and nibbling at some doughnuts and listening to the voice of Jesus Christ as he died on the cross. "Sounds amazing, doesn't it?" he said. Well, in a word: Yes. Jesus' voice was actually the voice of actor Jim Caviezel, one of the hundreds of voices that are part of one of the most ambitious audio projects in history. "The Word of Promise Audio Bible" is the King James Bible in its entirety: a 79-CD set of more than 98 hours of dramatic audio theater, with an original score by Stefano Mainetti, feature film-quality sound effects, narration by Michael York, and the work of 600-some actors, including such stars as Richard Dreyfuss (Moses), Gary Sinise (David), Marisa Tomei (Mary Magdalene), Stacy Keach (Paul), Louis Gossett Jr. (John), Joan Allen (Deborah), Max von Sydow (Noah) and Luke Perry (Judas). Martin Jarvis, a relatively unknown British actor, had what was perhaps the most daunting part: He plays God. Cerny also recruited a number of local actors to participate in the project, among them Chelcie Ross, Linda Kimbrough, Mike Nussbaum, Danny Goldring and David Pasquesi. "JoBe is just a great guy and terrific director," says Pasquesi, who plays many small parts and has known Cerny for many years. "He has given work over the years to so many local actors and on this project he was amazingly prepared. He set the scene, gave the background for even the tiniest part, provided the motivation. All of that was essential. You could tell how deeply his heart and head were in this." It began four years ago when Cerny was approached by an old Chicago friend, Carl Amari, a moviemaker and radio show producer. "I just never thought this would take four years," says Amari, who got the idea when visiting his friend Caviezel on the set of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." "There have been other audio versions of the Bible, most featuring one voice, like James Earl Jones. This was to be something vastly different." He started recruiting other actors, but there was one man for the job of director. "JoBe is one of the greatest radio guys there is. He did all the sound design on (the Amari-produced syndicated radio show) 'The Twilight Zone,'" he says. "He gets all the credit for this. He's the one who lived with it every day for four years." The first part of the project appeared in 2007 with "The World of Promise New Testament Audio Bible," a mere 20-CD/21-hour package. It was awarded the Christian Book of the Year for 2008 by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, the first audio Bible to ever receive the award. It has sold more than 700,000 copies. And while it was selling, Cerny & Co. kept working. "It feels like my entire career has been preparation for this project," says Cerny. He was born and raised in Cicero, Ill., carrying his unusual name as the result of playful parents named Joe, an engineer, and Bea, an artist. He got the theater bug while attending Valparaiso University in Indiana and later earned a master's degree in theater at Northwestern University. He became part of Second City's national touring company, but like many actors, he began doing a lot of commercial work, eventually opening his production house in 1986. As an actor, Cerny has appeared in or been the voice behind more than 3,000 commercials. He has been on local stages, appeared in print ads and on billboards, acted in corporate training films and had small parts in feature films. He has written and directed plays. He wrote a lively little guide to professional acting titled "I Could Have Been a Cab Driver … but I Became an Actor Instead." Of his most famous work, Cerny says, "(the Doughboy, aka Poppin' Fresh) is warm, cute and just a likable guy. My job is to try and help keep him that way." In 1987, Advertising Age magazine called the Doughboy America's most-loved character. Cerny estimates that there are 3,600 characters in the Bible, "but thank goodness not all of them speak." As the director of the more than 600 speaking parts, Cerny saw his mission as one that "turns these characters into real characters, have them played with full emotion, with context. To put these in the moment in time when these words were first spoken." To do this he was in frequent consultation with theologians and linguists, reading and re-reading the Bible, "trying to bring these passages, these people to life." "I was scared to death I might make a mistake, maybe with issues of translation," he says. "This was a huge mountain to climb." Most of the roles were recorded in Cerny's Illinois Street studios. There were seven other venues, in places such as Nashville, Los Angeles and Italy. All of the sound effects were created here, using high-tech equipment and some unusual items: The plague of the frogs in Exodus was accomplished by having raw chicken breasts thrown against a cement slab. "Carl and JoBe (approached this) with a seriousness and a passion that … is admirable," said Jason Alexander, who plays Joseph, in an interview with Black Christian News. "They (were) engaging, thoughtful and truly professional." And so it has ended, after 6,000 hours of studio time, more than 175,000 takes, thousands more hours of mixing and editing. Craig Lee was there for all of it. He was the head sound engineer for this project and for the hundreds of other less time-consuming chores for movie companies and advertising clients that he has worked on during his 15 years with Cerny. "When we first started it was a little scary," he says. "I was in awe of this project. We just plugged away, day by day. It's been a very meaningful experience." Cerny nibbled another doughnut before saying, "The days were sometimes endless. It was an honor for me to be asked to dig deep enough to make this happen. I knew it was in me somewhere. "We have a lot of other projects here but now there isn't this huge pressure. It almost feels like there's nothing to do." Amen to that.